Down Royal Saturday Preview - 30/10/21

Gordon Elliott is bidding for a straight hat-trick of wins in this race having won the affair in 2019 & 2020 so it would be no surprise to see him bring one of his strongest candidates in the form of Mighty Potter.

Mighty Potter was highly impressive when landing a bumper at Punchestown in March, keeping on strongly to record an ever-growing 5 length victory upon soft conditions over the 2 mile trip.

It would be a shock to few to see this son of Martaline now step up to land this maiden hurdle at his first time of asking over jumps.

The employment of first string jockey Jack Kennedy in the saddle has very much signified Mighty Potter to be the leading Elliott contender in the affair.

Gordon Elliott boasts a highly touted 21% strike rate at Down Royal across the last 5 seasons and he saddles 3 runners in this affair.

It's Glorious Zoff, the current market outsider of the three, that makes the most appeal in the market and at the weights.

After being in clear need of the returning run at Galway in July, Glorious Zoff improved to finish 3rd at Ballinrobe in August.

A line can somewhat be drawn through his run last time out at Listowel given he went off keen and blew a lot of energy on the back of that at the start of the race, and he has since been given 40 days off the track in order to rejuvenate and work on things.

Off 10 stone 12lbs hes very well weighted for this contest, given a further boost by useful 3lb claimer Jordan Gainford in the saddle.

He's had enough exposure this season to be primed in terms of fitness ahead of the affair and he looks a horse sure to appreciate what the soft ground conditions can do in terms of making this race into more of a test.

Minella Indo, on form, is clearly the best horse in the race here on the back of his top class Gold Cup victory last time out, and thats very much reflected in his short price for the affair.

He's only finished outside of the top 2 in two of his 8 chases, including 4 wins from Grade 3 to Grade 1 level, all 4 wins coming over todays distance.

Henry De Bromhead has a good record with break returners, boding well for Minella Indo's chances on the back of a 225 day break and he's expected to assert himself here over this field.

There's been a interesting switch in the saddle as Gordon Elliott flexes his power by retaining Gold Cup winning jockey Jack Kennedy on board his own runner, however Rachel Blackmore is deemed a more than sufficient replacement.

Envoi Allen was the perfect horse, 12 races unbeaten under all codes, including multiple graded success', before taking a 'novicey' fall at Cheltenham in March.

He subsequently made the step up to 3 miles at Punchestown following that Cheltenham heartbreak and once again disappointed, this time pulling up lame.

The son of Muhtathir has since been off the track for 6 months and should now be rejuvenated to bounce back, stepping out of novice company for the first time here.

Looking past his two most recent runs, he easily holds the most compelling claims in the race and looks set to once again assert himself as the best.

Rachel Blackmore is once again given the leg up to replace the retained Gordon Elliott rider, Jack Kennedy.

American Mike won by no less than 20 lengths at Cork in a point to point race in April and was subsequently purchased for the eye-catching price of £195,000 by connections and subsequently sent into training with Gordon Elliott.

The son of Mahler appears an exciting recruit and is the clear pick to make a winning start on rules debut for his new yard.

Gordon Elliott won this race last year with Sir Gerhard and he teams up once more with last years winning jockey Jamie Codd on board American Mike, taken as a sign of intentions for the runner to follow in Sir Gerhard's footsteps.